How could the Giants replace Ryan Connelly?

Apparently, the New York Giants just can’t have nice things at the linebacker position. That’s the takeaway from the season-ending knee injury suffered by Ryan Connelly. Where will the Giants, who likely need to add an inside linebacker with uncertainty about about Alec Ogletree (hamstring) and Tae Davis (conussion)?

Here are some thoughts.

Josiah Tauaefa

The undrafted free agent rookie is probably the favorite to get a call up to the 53-man roster. Tauaefa, out of Texas-San Antonio, led the Giants with 16 tackles in the preseason. He also had a sack and a quarterback hit.

Last week, needing to protect themselves due to injuries to Ogletree (hamstring) and Davis (concussion) The Giants bypassed the rookie and re-signed veteran Nate Stupar. That made sense with Ogletree and Davis looking at short term injuries. The Giants likely would not want to activate Tauaefa, then need to expose him to waivers in a week or two in an effort to get him back on the practice squad. Now, there is a permanent opening.

Jonathan Anderson

The 27-year-old was with the Giants during training camp. He played pretty well with 13 tackles, two for loss, and two forced fumbles. Anderson has 31 games of NFL experience, all with the Chicago Bears.

Joey Alfieri

The Giants took a brief look at this former Stanford linebacker during preseason. If the Giants were to promote Tauaefa, Alfieri could be a candidate for his practice squad spot.

Brandon Marshall

There have been some calling for the Giants to add the former Denver Broncos linebacker for weeks now. If it is ever going to happen, now would be the time. Question is does the 30-year-old have anything left in the tank after being limited by a knee injury last season and then cut by the Oakland Raiders this summer?

Mason Foster

Maybe I am putting him on the list for the simple reason that it seems like ever since he came into the league in 2011 I thought Foster should have been a Giant. The Giants chose Jerrel Jernigan one pick before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers chose Foster in the third round of the 2011 draft.

Foster, 30, started all 16 games and had 131 tackles for the Washington Redskins a season ago.